Over and over again the psalms reflect on the goodness of God. God is good in his acts of creation and providential care. He is loving in all his ways and toward all he has made.
Sometimes we wonder about that when we look at the troubles of this world, the tragedies. No wonder people question and discount the goodness of God.
And yet we’re failing to look at the bigger picture. That God is good in his greatness and great in his goodness. This requires faith to be sure, and is revealed in Jesus, God’s final Word to humanity. It is a revelation, indeed a reality which saves us, and is meant for no less than the world. Bringing in the new creation in and through Jesus.
It is good to look at the bigger picture in the sweeping scope of scripture, the story in scripture. And it is good to look at details in our lives. The old hymn, Count Your Blessings (I don’t agree with every jot and tittle in it, but the main message is good, one of the hymns in our book which we sing at the nursing home) makes this one point well. We do need to consider the goodness of God in our lives, in the numerous blessings we receive daily.
The fact is most all of us take those blessings for granted. But we need to center our attention on what indeed we are thankful for. We need to view life through the revelation of God’s goodness.
I am one who easily is focused on tragedies and troubles. And there definitely is a place for that. In fact we need to be concerned as well as active in regard to the problems of this world, and the tragedy that besets so many day after day. But we need to do so with the understanding that God is good. That we can entrust even the hardest issues to him. That in Jesus there indeed is the answer to our question whether God is good or not.
And so we continue on in this life. Thanking God for his blessings on us all. The final blessing being in Jesus. For the world.
Jesus community 